Online reviewers using bad write-ups to ‘blackmail’ restaurants, say city foodies
● Tripadvisor says it takes allegations ‘very seriously’
It is regarded by some as an indispensable guide to the country’s leading eateries – a website where ordinary consumers act as critics.
But some of Scotland’ s leading restaurateurs have warned that Tripadvisor is being hijacked by unscrupulous customers who are threatening them with scathing reviews.
Two popular establishments in Edinburgh have claimed that users of the popular review site have tried to secure free meals or discounts on their bill, warning that unless their demands were met, “terrible” accounts of their meal would appear online.
Some of those affected in the capital’s restaurant trade said the incidents demonstrated that Tripadvisor was starting to “lose its clout”. But the firm said it took allegations of blackmail or threatening behaviour by customers “very seriously”.
Paul Brennan, director and cofounder of Dine, an awardwinning brasserie in Edinburgh’s Cambridge Street, said although review sites were generally a positive platform for the hospitality industry, they are being “misused and abused by a very small minority of customers”.
Writing in today’s Scotsman, he recalled a recent visit by a customer who, while still in the restaurant, drafted what he described as a “one star, terrible” review for the site, before threatening staff with it and demanding a “sizeable discount”.
The customer in question was offered a discount by the restaurant’ s duty manager, but as Mr Brennan explained, that did not stop the review from appearing.
“Despite stating he was extremely satisfied andreas sured with how the matter was handled, even going on to accept complimentary cocktails and thanking staff for a wonderful afternoon, he still posted his damning and wholly inaccurate review,” he said.
“It was, in my opinion, a form of blackmail and goes against the spirit of the site and other online review platforms.”
Paul Wedgwood, chef patron at Wedgwood the Restaurant on the Canongate, said his establishment had encountered similar problems.
He said: “We’ve had guests who use a negative review as a threat, demanding a free meal lest we feel the wrath of their keyboard, so I think we all have to take these reviews with a pinch of salt – chefs and diners.
“If reviewers weren’t anonymous, it may help with credi bility. Just now there is no way to check if ‘Traveller123’ even visited the restaurant, so it’s difficult [to] respond to genuine grievances.”
Mr Wedgwood added that although the likes of TripAdvisor were hugely useful marketing tools when he opened the restaurant in 2007, its influence has since diminished.
He said: “We’ve found that word of mouth is far more important. I think diners have started to realise that you can’t take reviews online at face value and Tripadvisor has started to lose its clout.”
Kaori Simpson, manager of the Aarosette winning Harajuku Kitchen in Bruntsfield, said the online platforms were vital to attract new customers and tourists, but admitted she had similar negative experiences.
She said: “Everyone has different tastes so the majority of reviews will be different, but I think they are helpful for those that aren’t familiar with the area to read.
“Luckily, the majority of our reviews are good, but on a couple of occasions we have received private emails of complaint with connotations of receiving a freebie.”
Tripadvisor’s guidelines advise that guests threatening to write negative reviews of an establishment unless they receive the likes of a refund or upgrade was an “occasional concern” and “strictly against” its rules,
It said it has a mechanism in place for restaurateurs to proactively report threats before the reviews go live and potentially damage trade.
Suspicious reviews which are submitted are then reviewed on a casebycase basis, before Tripadvisor decides whether to pull them.
It urges owners and managers of hotels and restaurants to report cases of alleged blackmail as soon as possible after the incident occurs.
A spokesman for the company said: “We take very seriously any allegations of blackmail or threatening behaviour by guests against business owners.
“It is absolutely against the terms and spirit of our site to use Tripadvisor’s name to try and claim discounts, compensation or freebies.”
“I think diners have started to realise that you can’t take reviews online at face value and Tripadvisor has started to lose its cl out”
PAUL WEDGWOOD